From qualifying to taking on Tiger

Y.E. YANG: INTERNATIONAL TEAM PROFILE

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Back in March, after Y.E. Yang pocketed his first PGA Tour victory, an unexpected exercise awaited at his next tournament. Tour officials took Yang's measurements, in case he made the International team and needed to wear official garb for this week's Presidents Cup.

Yang promptly finished 74th in that tournament, the CA Championship, then missed the cut in his next two starts. Those measurements seemed destined for irrelevance.

Seven months later, Yang arrives at Harding Park as a full-fledged Presidents Cup participant, the man who conquered Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. That victory vaulted Yang onto the International team and made him the most unlikely major champion in a year full of unlikely major champions.

Yang is a 37-year-old South Korean who needed to make it through Qualifying School in December 2008 to earn full status on the PGA Tour this season. He's still struggling to digest the reality of playing on captain Greg Norman's team at Harding Park.

"Who would've thought, 18 years ago, that a country boy like me would be playing in the international world's equivalent of the Ryder Cup?" Yang said via e-mail (and through a translator), referring to the time he began playing golf at 19. "The more I think about it, the more unbelievable it is."

Y.E. Yang, of South Korea, celebrates after winning the 91st PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. At right is Tiger Woods. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Y.E. Yang, of South Korea, celebrates after winning the 91st PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. At right is Tiger Woods. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Photo: Charlie Neibergall, AP

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Y.E. Yang, of South Korea, is congatulated by Tiger Woods, right, after winning the 91st PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Y.E. Yang, of South Korea, is congatulated by Tiger Woods, right, after winning the 91st PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Photo: Morry Gash, AP

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From qualifying to taking on Tiger

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Yang had solid credentials when he first surfaced full-time on the PGA Tour in 2007. He had collected five wins on the Japan Tour and one memorable triumph on the European Tour, when he beat Woods by two shots in the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai in November 2006.

Still, even after he won the Honda Classic in March, Yang hardly seemed like a prime candidate to earn a Presidents Cup berth. He fended off John Rollins and Ben Crane, not exactly elite players, to win the Honda. It was a low-wattage victory, coming one week after Woods made his much-heralded return from reconstructive knee surgery.

Yang's confidence grew as the summer progressed, leading to top-20 finishes in his last three starts before the PGA. Then, after playing his way into contention at stout Hazeltine National in suburban Minneapolis, he showed striking composure in stripping away Woods' aura of final-round invincibility. Yang handed Woods his first loss when holding the 54-hole lead at a major, punctuated by a fabulous approach shot on the final hole.

The victory introduced fans to an affable, self-deprecating player. Yang was entertaining throughout his news conference that night, which was no surprise to his caddie, A.J. Montecinos.

"He's very low key and easy to get along with," Montecinos said at Hazeltine. "When the general public gets to know him, people will love him. He's got a heart as big as this place."

Montecinos met Yang at the second stage of Q School in December 2007. They have been working together ever since then, even if Yang speaks virtually no English and Montecinos knows little Korean beyond the words for "I'm hungry," and "I'm full."

But they formed such a close bond, Yang offered to pay off Montecinos' mortgage and the balance on his car loan earlier this year. Yang recently clarified, saying he will give Montecinos a hefty bonus at year's end, affording him the chance to erase his debt.

The seven weeks since Yang's stunning victory at the PGA have been a whirlwind of interviews, endorsement offers and, suddenly, a public identity.

"Fans recognize me and no longer confuse me for Wi or Choi or Kim or Na," Yang said. "And the amount of media attention has been overwhelming."

Yang and his family now live in Dallas, and a few days after the PGA, he went to the nearby TaylorMade (one of his sponsors) offices for a tour. Several employees recognized him and started chanting, "Y.E.! Y.E.!"

"I felt like a rock star," he said.

That day took another unexpected twist when he met former President George W. Bush, also a Dallas-area resident, on an adjacent golf course. They took photos and chatted for nearly 30 minutes, re-living Yang's improbable takedown of the world's No. 1 player.

On the night of his PGA triumph, remember, Yang was asked if he would give Woods a rematch. He smiled and replied, "Never again. No re-dos." But the rematch might happen at Harding: Norman and counterpart Fred Couples have talked about sending Yang against Woods in singles Sunday.